The only book on Scrolls that
you will need
to learn about Japanese and Chinese Scroll Painters

On the laws of Japanese painting.
An introduction to the study of the Art of JapanHenry Pike Bowie (1848–1921)
Published in San Francisco: by Paul Elder & Co.,,
[1911]

I have been collecting these very rare first edition of this
remarkable book. Created by Henry Pike Bowie over a period of years
when he studied art in Japan, this book clearly shows what scrolls
mean, how certain elements of scrolls are painted and styles of
illustration that determine the subject of the artist.. I first
bought a reprint and thought that while the illustrations were
either faded or really not clear, I was shown a first edition copy
by a friend and the plates were unbelievably different. They were
clear, subtle and very beautiful. No copies from the 1950's onwards
come anywhere near the first edition of 1911. I then spent a long
time searching through bookseller stocks until In found some
remaining copies of these very rare editions. One thing I did find
in the early part of my search that the booksellers were advertising
first editions called Dover but these are copies from the 1950's and
definitely not in the same ball park as to quality of the
illustrations. The newer editions from the past 10 years and which
are reprints , some are even photocopies, are sold at prices from
low to very high and really many are not worth the paper they are
printed on. I sell only first editions although I do stock a few of
the second edition. Regarding the first editions, while most are
good, some are perfect, and some very fine and unopened a small
number have been restored.

Prices
are based on the quality of the first edition and the highest
reflects a signed original copy by the author in a specially made
period kimono silk covered box.. However, all copies are in good
condition. Many are with dust jackets. Some have been professionally
restored.

Henry Pike Bowie was an American lawyer, artist, author, Japanologist and diplomat

BiographyIn
the late 1880s, Bowie commissioned Makoto Hagiwara, the designer of the
Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, to plan a
garden and tea house for his home on the border of Hillsborough and San
Mateo, California in California's San Mateo County. This Japanese
garden, called "Higurashi-en" or "A garden worthy of a day's
contemplation," was created between 1887 and 1892. Although it has been
reduced in size to about an acre in the 21st century, it is the largest
privately owned "Authentic" Japanese garden in the United States, and it
is on the National Register of Historic Places. A highlight of the
garden is a silvery-green, five-needled Mikado pine, which was given to
Bowie by Emperor Meiji Bowie's later additions to the garden include a
triple laceleaf Japanese maple and other artefacts from the 1915
Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915) The property was
purchased by Achille and Joan Paladini of Hillsborough, CA in 1988 and
restored to its original pristine condition. It was featured on the
Oprah Show and has been the location for a recent movie. The director
for Memoirs of a Geisha visited the property and considered it for the
film.
After the death of his first wife, Bowie first visited Japan in 1893. He
returned in 1894, residing with the Hirano family of Yokohama. During
this period, he devoted himself to practicing his Japanese language
skills, studying Japanese painting, and broadening his understanding of
Japanese culture. He studied painting and, after perfecting the
style, Bowie won awards for his pictures at public exhibitions, and the
Japanese emperor acquired two of his painting
Bowie was a co-founder in 1905 of the Japan Society of Northern
California, along with Stanford University's president, David Starr
Jordan. He also served as the society's first president

In 1909, he erected a memorial gate, created by Japanese craftsmen
brought from Japan specifically for the project. The memorial structure
in Burlingame was designed to honor the valor of Japanese sailors and
soldiers during the Russo-Japanese War (1905).
In 1918, he sailed for Japan as special emissary of the U.S. Department
of State. Shortly after returning to California in 1921, he died at age
72.

His son in Japan, Imao Hirano, was a poet and worked for abolishing
discrimination against mixed race children. Imao's daughter, Remi
Hirano, who is known as a cooking expert in Japan, married Makoto Wada.
Sho Wada, the guitarist and vocalist of Triceratops, is their son.

More information is at the foot of the page
The prices range between £40($65) and £100 ($160) There is one signed
copy at £250 ($375)

Prices are based on the quality of the first edition and
the highest reflects a signed original copy by the author in a specially
made period kimono silk covered box.. However, all copies are in good
condition. Many are with dust jackets. Some have been restored.

On the laws of Japanese painting.
An introduction to the study of the Art of Japan. . .
With prefatory remarks by Iwaya Sazanami

Introduction First of all, I should state that in the year 1909 I
accompanied the Honorable Japanese Commercial Commissioners in their
visit to the various American capitals and other cities of the United
States where we were met with the heartiest welcome, and for which we
all felt the most profound gratitude. We were all so happy, but I was
especially so indeed, it would be impossible to be more happy than I
felt, and particularly was this true of one day, namely y the
twenty-seventh of November of the year named, when Henry jP. Bowie,
Esq., invited us to his residence in San Mateo, where we found erected
by him, a Memorial Gate to commemorate our victories in the Japanese -
Russian War and its dedication had been reserved for this day of our
visit Suspended above the portals was a bronze tablet inscribed with
letters written by my late father, Ichi Roku.

The evening of that same day we were invited by our host to a reception
extended to us in San Francisco by the Japan Society of America, where I
had the honor of delivering a short address on Japanese folk-lore. In
adjoining halls was exhibited a large collection of Japanese writings
and paintings, the latter chiefly the work of the artist, KitbotaI
Beisen, while the writings were from the brush of my deceased father,
between whom and Mr. Bowie there existed the relations of the warmest
friendship and mutual esteem.

Two years or more have passed and I am now in receipt of information
from Mr. Shimada Sekko that Mr. Bowie is about to publish a work upon
the laws of Japanese painting and I am requested to write a preface to
the same. I am well aware how unfitted I am for such an undertaking f
but in view of all I have here related I feel I am not permitted to
refuse.

Indeed, it seems to me that the art of our country has for many years
past been introduced to the public of Europe and America in all sorts of
ways and hundreds of books about Japanese art have appeared in
several foreign languages but I have been privately alarmed for the
reason that a great many such books contain either superficial
observations made during sightseeing sojourns of six months or a year in
our country or are but hasty commentaries. compilations of extracts or
references chosen here and there from other Introduction volumes.
AII work of this kind must be considered extremely superficial.

But Mr. Bowie has resided many years in Japan. He thoroughly understands
our institutions and national life he is accustomed to our ways, and is
duly conversant with our language and literature, and he understands
both our arts of writing and painting. Indeed I feel he knows about such
matters more than many of my own countrymen added to this, his taste is
instinctively well adapted to the Oriental atmosphere of thought and is
in harmony with Japanese ideals. And it is he who is the author of the
present volume.

To others a labor of the kind would be very great Mr. Bowie it is a work
of no such difficulty, and it must surely prove a source of priceless
instruction not only to Europeans and Americans, but to my own
countrymen, who will learn not a little from it. Ah, how fortunate do we
feel it to be that such a book will appear in lands so far removed from
our native shores.

Now that I learn that Mr. Bowie has written this book the happiness of
two years ago is again renewed, and from this far-off country I offer
him. my warmest congratulations, with the confident hope that his work
will prove fruitfully effective...

Hillsborough is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California,
in the San Francisco Bay Area. Hillsborough is one of the wealthiest
communities in America and has the highest income of places in the
United States with populations of at least 10,000. It is located 17
miles (27 km) south of San Francisco on the San Francisco Peninsula,
bordered by Burlingame to the north, San Mateo to the east, Highlands-Baywood
Park to the south, and Interstate 280 to the west. The population was
11,273 as of 2013. The town is served by Hillsborough City School
District.

Hillsborough's landscape is dominated by large homes; the town zoning
and subdivision ordinances require a 2,500-square-foot (230 m) minimum
house size and minimum lot size of 0.5 acres (2,000 m). As a result,
there are no apartments, condominiums or townhouses in the city limits;
however, it is not unusual for the homes along the eastern edge of
Hillsborough to face condominiums in neighbouring Burlingame, sharing
the ZIP code 94010.

The town has no commercial zoning and thus no businesses within the
town limits; the only non-residential properties are the town's four
public and three private schools, town and county government facilities,
a golf course, a country club, and a small park.

There is also another garden started by Henry Pike Bowie. Now called

Higurashi-En
"Garden Worthy of a Days Contemplation"

Garden Images: click for a larger images

Higurashi-En
"Garden Worthy of a Days Contemplation"

This authentic historic Oriental garden and tea house was first
developed in the 1880's by Peninsula pioneer Henry Bowie. The property
later became part of the Eugene de Sabla estate. Joan and Achille
Paladini, current owners, have restored the garden and tea house and
have had it placed on the "National Register for Historic Places" so
that future generations will be able to enjoy this treasure and symbol
of friendship between the United States of America and Japan.

Plaque dedicated 28 July 1993
County of San Mateo Historic resources Advisory Board

The Eugene de Sabla, Jr. teahouse and tea garden is located on the
north side of de Sabla Road which was the original entrance drive to
the de Sabla estate. The district contains a c. 1909 one story frame
teahouse constructed in a Japanese farmhouse style with wooden
shingle double roof, tokonoma and veranda. The teahouse is located
on the west side of the garden and is carefully integrated into a c.
1947 one and two story frame addition which transformed it into a
residence. The c. 1906 tea garden is a "Shin" elaborate style of
hill garden surrounded by a "looking through" bamboo fence with roof
gateway. The approximately one acre garden contains waterfalls and
nine objects including lanterns, a tsukabai, a stone Buddha and a
bridge.

At the southeast corner of the building is a small, non-contributing
one story frame garage constructed in 1947. Despite the additions to
the original teahouse and gardens, the district is in excellent
condition overall, and retains integrity in location, design,
setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association as a
Japanese-style building and historic landscape. The teahouse is a
one story, frame Sen no Rokyu style chashitsu (teahouse) , with a
Japanese farmhouse style wooden shingle double roof, tokonoma and
veranda. Rokyu style teahouses are intended to be in the style of a
simple farm dwelling. The reflection pool setting of the teahouse
closely resembles the setting of the Katsura Detached Palace in
Kyoto, Japan. The walls and ceiling are finished with white plaster
and exposed finished wood beams. Across the front of the teahouse
facing the garden are two large shoji style doors with delicate
wooden shoji style transom panels which extend across the front of
the building and part way into the building at either corner. The
shoji doors leading to the garden would never be open during the tea
ceremony, as stated in early tea books. "(T)he guests ought not to
be distracted by the garden so that they can devote themselves
wholeheartedly to the Chanoyu (tea ceremony) and to the appreciation
of the meibutsu (tea utensils)." The shoji were primarily for
ventilation and light control. Two more shoji doors, which have been
removed but are still in the possession of the owner, were once
located below these corner spaces. These transom panels and doors
were once covered on the exterior with paper. These doors remain
unchanged. At the edge of the veranda are now sliding glass doors
which protect the original doors and veranda of the building. These
outer doors, which were originally wood, were added in 1947. In the
northwest corner of the building is the Tokonoma, or alcove for
display of the scroll, incense, and flower arrangement. An
unfinished limb supports the Tokonoma. The floors, it is believed,
were originally covered with tatami, but now have bare wood which is
the condition in which they were found by the existing owner.

The building is attached on either side by one-story and two-story
additions carefully added in 1947. The 625 square foot additions
were made by Eri Richardson, an Army major and part-time house
designer, after careful research in Japanese architecture source
books. The additions include a one-story living room addition to the
south of the teahouse and a two-story frame residence on the north
side of the teahouse. An original doorway on the north side of the
teahouse was used to connect the two story addition. On the south
side of the tea house there is a low stone alcove between the tea
house and the one-story addition which preserves the action of
stepping into the teahouse and preserves it as a separate unit of
space. Thus, while the building has been altered rather
substantially, it has been changed in a sympathetic manner and still
is capable of making a contribution to the overall significance of
the garden. The teahouse is centred in the roji (garden) with a
winding path leading to the teahouse. The purpose of the tea garden
was to allow participants of the tea ceremony to "enter into a state
of purification before the tea ceremony and empty the mind of
distractions.... commune with the inner spirit of the world." The
garden is a "Shin" , or elaborate style of hill garden. The design
was first published in an 1828 manual for garden makers, Tsukiyama
Teizo-Den, written by Akizato Rito and published in Tokyo.

The de Sabla garden is named Higurashi-En, the Garden Worthy of a
Day of Contemplation. It closely follows the plan published in the
manual. The book was still being used when Makota Hagiwara designed
this garden in c. 1906. A "shin" style hill garden contains several
essential elements, all of which are represented in the de Sabla
garden. These elements are the sacred island, the guardian stone,
the stone of worship, the principal tree, tree of the setting sun,
view perfecting tree, tree of solitude, tree of the distancing pine,
cascade screening tree, keystones set at important viewing stations,
stone lanterns and bridges. It is also imperative that a tea garden
contain a "dewy path" leading to the tea garden and a tsukabai
(stone wash basin for purification before the tea ceremony) .
Although small portions of the garden were changed or removed during
the 1947 building additions, the basic form of the garden remains
unchanged. The integrity of the original design and planting
materials is due to careful gardening by a limited number of
committed individuals over seventy years.

The site furnishings consist of various original small stone objects
such as Buddhas and lanterns. Two new cast iron cranes closely
resembling those originally located in the Pan Pacific International
Exposition Garden are located on the island. The Garden After Eugene
de Sabla, Jr., sold the property in 1919, the Japanese gardens were
cared for by Harold Peterson, the gardener of the St. Cyr Estate for
twenty years. Beginning in 1947 and continuing until the present,
two generations of the Obata family have cared for the garden.
Unfortunately there is no known documentation of the process used
for constructing the garden. It is known that Hagiwara, working with
other gardeners, constructed the hills in the garden by carting in
dirt and volcanic rock from Mt - Lassen. There are also other pieces
of volcanic rock which are believed to be from Japan. According to
the 1914 House Beautiful article, "Before the Japanese gardeners
started on this beauty spot it was perfectly flat, like the rest of
the highly developed grounds. But in all typical gardens...there is
a little cascade or waterfall and this in turn necessitates a
hillside, down which a tiny streamlet may meander. It took hundreds
of tons of dirt and rock to provide a pretty background for the De
Sabla Japanese garden..... the ingenious Japanese landscape artists
found it.

Comparatively easy to prepare a Japanese garden which, in detail,
surpasses anything I have seen in California." The gardeners were
able to take advantage of the specimen trees and mature growth
planted by John McLaren on the estate twenty five years earlier.
These included a Spanish fir, Canary Island pines, an atlas cedar
and a deodar cedar, a Himalayan spruce and Douglas firs. Also used
were several of the same plants used in the Japanese Tea Garden in
Golden Gate park, such as the Hinoki cypress, the Hiba arborvitae
and camellias. The source of a very old Gingko tree measuring one
and a half feet in girth is unknown. The garden is entered through a
rojii (gate of wood and bamboo with a shallow wood shingled gable
roof which still serves as the main entrance to both the garden and
house today.

In 1914 a walk through the garden was described as follows: "From
the moment you enter the high gateway, flanked on each side by wings
that join the rustic fence, you find a wealth of charming detail
introduced in the pretty garden. Every little nook and corner
contains some pleasant surprise. From the tea-house you note to the
left a substantial yet artistic bridge, then a hillside pathway,
marked with irregular flat stones that serve as steps, leading past
a beautiful stone lantern to a fragile bamboo fence and fringe of
pines and wide-spreading oaks. You see delicate shrubs sprouting
from rocky crevices, and little trees, twisted into most impossible
curves and angles, jut from the banks of the lake. Strange little
creeping vines and wild flowers seek the edge of the water, and if
you will walk past the waterfall to the farther end of the garden,
you will find several small lotus ponds filled with floating pads
and blossoms. Beyond is a wonderful bed of iris surrounded by a wild
tangle of verdant shrubs and native trees." (House Beautiful) The
configuration of the garden has changed little except for some very
small portions which are now part of adjacent properties and no
longer retain integrity.

In 1947 a banked, one and a half story frame garage with sleeping
quarters was carefully placed inconspicuously in the northwest
corner of the garden. Shrubbery has substantially concealed this
non-contributing building.